Nearly two weeks ago, when my husband, Roger and I stopped in at the Micronesia Dive Association (MDA) dive shop in Piti, Guam, we ran into one of the men that my husband works with, who was there with his wife and children. I was introduced to them all, and Roger reminded me that this man's wife, Sarah, was one of the fitness instructors at the Coral Reef Fitness Center on Andersen Air Force Base. We became acquainted and talked about one of the classes she leads: spin. I've often thought that would be a fun class to join, but was concerned that I might hold the class back if I could not keep up. How relieved I was to hear that everyone in the class "spins" at their own level. Encouraged, I committed to show up the following Wednesday for the 8:30am class and try it out. I had been wanting to start some sort of fitness class to begin getting into better shape and here was my chance.
I arrived a few minutes early, as Sarah recommended, and she walked me and two other gals new to the class through about what to expect. She showed us how the spin bikes operate and encouraged us all to take water brakes as needed, whenever we needed them, regardless of where we were in the spin routine. She also showed everyone the hand signals she would be using during class so that we would know how many turns up or down the resistance knob needed throughout the hour.
With the loud music blaring we were off and away, warming up, stretching, wheels spinning, uphill, downhill, sprinting, standing up, leaning over the handlebars, sitting down, repeat! taking it slower, and then stretching on and off the bike. "Drink lots of water, this is Guam!" Sarah hollers more than once throughout all of her spin classes.
As I drank the remaining water from my bottle after spin yesterday, I was first of all thankful for the gel-padded bike seat I went out and bought at the Base Exchange (BX) after last week's spin class. It made this spin class a lot less painful. Second, I was looking forward to participating in the yoga class that I noticed immediately following spin class last week. Yes, a little yoga would do the muscles good. The next instructor was in the exercise room already getting her music set up. Except that the music didn't sound much like yoga music. This music sounded too "wound up" for that. Wait a minute! Taking another look at the new class schedule (that changes every month) I realized that since we are now in a new month, there was a change in the Wednesday 9:40am time slot. Nowhere was yoga to be found...anywhere in August! Instead, kick-boxing took its place. [Gasp!] I looked at the clock...9:38am. Then I looked around...only two other women there besides the instructor and myself.
I made the conscious decision to stay and try it out, hoping that my already wobbly legs would not give out on me. Within five minutes or so, a lot more women showed up and joined in. The instructor, Nora, also encouraged all of us to drink lots of water throughout the workout. Bringing a water bottle is a definite must no matter what class you are taking. And a hand towel. Still, I tried to only sip the water during the workout; I didn't want to get sick.
Wondering how I got myself caught up in a vortex of high-impact aerobics I was determined to make it through the class. There was another woman there over 50. I was glad because that meant that I was not the only one. I think she is either Korean or Philippina, but I digress. After class it so happened that we were walking together out of Coral Reef FC talking about kick-boxing and zumba. She had done both before whereas this was my first time kick-boxing and I had never done zumba. There was a zumba class the next day, she explained, in the same time slot. Before parting she said "See you tomorrow." I replied "I'll be there." [Gasp!] Down comes the vortex again!
So, at 9:40am this morning, with sore legs, shoulders and arms, courtesy of yesterday's classes, I zumba-ed my way through the hour. Now? I am so sore that I'm glad the only thing I need to do for the rest of the day is read, blog, and continue unpacking the few boxes remaining and assimilate the contents into the house. Oh yes, and drink lots of water -- this is Guam!
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